Quake by Rudolph Wurlitzer

Author:Rudolph Wurlitzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0.86001.630.7
Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
Published: 2022-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

They stared at each other and then they burst into tears. The girl rushed to her mother and buried her head in her lap. The mother stroked her daughter's hair.

"We can get out, Mama," the daughter said.

"Maybe we can. My wrist isn't cut too deeply."

"Everything will be all right, won't it?" the daughter asked.

"Yes, baby," the mother said. "Everything is going to be fine. This will all blow over. There will be green grass where all the filth is now and German shepherds romping over everything. We'll be better off from what happened. We won't make the same mistakes next time."

The father raised his head.

"We're not licked yet, he said.

The light from the flames had begun to dance over the edge of the crate. It was getting very hot. The girl went back to her corner. She stared at me with large vacant eyes. Fists pounded on the wall.

"You're gonna burn in there," voice yelled.

"We're getting out," the daughter said.

"Nonsense," her mother said. "We're safe in here. We don't know those people out there. We're together now and no one can surprise us."

The daughter stood up and screamed: "There's a fire. I can smell it. There are flames over there."

"Sit down, dear," her father said. "There have been fires all day. One more isn't going to make any difference."

I stood up and looked over the edge. The flames covered the entire rear of the warehouse and several crates were beginning to go up. Most of the bathtubs and toilets were empty although there were a few who had decided to sit it out. They sat with their arms wrapped around themselves or each other, rocking back and forth. Screams and yells came from inside several crates. I turned and faced the inside of my own crate. They were still crouched in their separate corners. The girl had drawn her legs up to her chest. She was crying. Her mother was staring reproachfully at her and her father had picked up a thin piece of tin and was slicing it over the length of his arms and legs. I stepped over to the girl and stamped and pounded my head on the wall but she chose to look at the floor. I made a leap for the wall but wasn't able to climb over. I tried again, stepping on the girl's shoulder. She bit me on the leg. I stepped on her head and pulled myself over the edge. I hung for a moment, unable to go either way, and then fell over. lay on the ground. could hear them singing but I couldn't distinguish the words. A woman ran by, her hair on fire. I hobbled behind an old man in a white skullcap pushing an aluminum wheelbarrow. Another old man, his neck covered by a blue silk scarf, sat cross-legged in the wheelbarrow and urged him on.

"Hurry up, you useless prick,' he yelled. "We'll be burned alive in here."

"I'm doing fifty more steps and then you take over," said the man in the skullcap.

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